Le Jeune marié (1983)
Directed by Bernard Stora

Film Review

This well-observed sentimental drama tells a poignant love story which, despite its banality, brims with charm and sincerity. It was the first film to be directed by Bernard Stora, who rarely achieved anything quite as noteworthy in his subsequent career, although his third feature Consentement mutuel (1994) is not without merit.

Le Jeune marié is a likeable film but it is somewhat let down by a screenplay that lacks coherence and ambition.  The characters are, however, well-drawn and convincingly played by a talented ensemble - their performances and some striking photography make up for Stora's evident inexperience as a director and the occasionally clichéd nature of the narrative. Stora wrote the script in collaboration with Luc Béraud, who became a prolific television director as well as making a few films for the cinema, notably the Patrick Dewaere vehicle Plein sud (1981).

The film also affords Richard Berry one of his most memorable screen roles, with the actor putting in what is quite possibly his best performance, ably supported by Zoé Chauveau, Brigitte Fossey and Richard Anconina. This may not be a perfect piece of cinema but it has considerable charm and functions beautifully as a sweetly ironic parable on the transient nature of love.

Film Synopsis

Billy, a construction worker in the South of France, decides to get married, not because he is in love, but because he feels it is what is expected of him.  Tragically, on the day of his marriage, he meets another woman, Viviane, to whom he is instantly attracted.  Recently divorced, she lives alone with her young son, in the same apartment where Billy lives with his wife Nina.   Keeping to himself the fact that he is married, Billy begins a passionate love affair with Viviane.  Then he discovers that Nina is pregnant and he has no choice but to tell Viviane the truth...